Welcome to my kitchen remodel blog! If you’re here hoping to get an idea of what’s involved in a kitchen renovation then you’re certainly in the right place. This project was my first attempt at having a kitchen remodeled and it was quite a learning experience. I hope this blog can help other first timers, or anyone out there looking for ideas on layout, cabinets, lighting and everything else that is involved in a kitchen remodel. This project was a collaboration between myself and Greentea Design, a Toronto-based company that carries a very unique line of Asian-inspired cabinetry that I completely fell in love with. They were instrumental in the creation of what turned out to be my dream kitchen.

I’d like to give a breakdown of what sort of topics I covered throughout the remodel process on this blog. To begin I explained how terrible the kitchen was when I moved in and included photos to demonstrate the extent of it’s horrid state.

I provided hand-drawn sketches to Greentea of the layout I wanted and they produced digital 3-dimensional images of what the kitchen would look like with the cabinets and all the fixtures I chose.

There were a few posts after this where I let readers in on all the purchases I had made for crucial kitchen elements like appliances, lighting, countertop, sink and plenty others.

Demolition began, which was mainly executed by my boyfriend and I. That was a lot of fun (and work, but it was SO satisfying).

The kitchen needed to be completely gutted (more so than I had anticipated) so there were a couple of posts explaining what needed to happen and how I had the space modified to accommodate the cabinets.

The flooring was a bit of an odd choice, and I explained my selection and the process of getting the flooring done in time for the arrival of the cabinets.

The cabinets arrived, to my delight, and with them came my amazement at how easy it is to “install” free-standing cabinetry.

I included a post about the installation of all the light fixtures I had selected earlier on in the process. This was one of my favourite stages as my previous kitchen was severely lacking adequate lighting.

The countertop was installed and I was able to snap a few photos during this process.

I then blogged about some of the finishing touches made to the kitchen (placement of accessories, the hatch that was created to access the basement…).

In my last couple of posts I expressed my utter disbelief at how amazing the cabinetry was at allowing me to finally have an organized kitchen (with the help of 25 drawers!!). I also blogged about my delight at finding the perfect dining table (and explained why the first one that I had built didn’t work out).

For photos of the final product.....well, come see for yourself in the many posts below. ;)

This blog chronicles my entire kitchen renovation from start to finish. Greentea Design has provided me with their solid wood kitchen cabinets, and I'm taking care of the rest.

If you'd like to be brought up to date, check out the archive in the sidebar for previous posts. I recently bought a new dining table and took some new photos of the kitchen to show it in the space.

During the kitchen renovation, I wanted a dining table built because I needed something narrower than an average size table, and it needed to fit 6 people. My boyfriend and I were initially going to build it, but my contractor offered so we took him up on it. The table turned out to be pretty disastrous. The wood of the top ended up warping and splitting, and the pedestal base was completely non-functional for such a long table. In the end, I ended up picking up a couple cheap table legs at Ikea and adding those on, particularly for instances when some of my porkier cats would launch onto it from the countertop. Here is a photo of the table:

I've been looking for a table on and off for several months now and have had no luck, up until a couple Fridays ago when I took my boyfriend down to the Byward Market with me on a table hunt. We were in Stacaro, my new favourite store, when Jeff spotted a really cool desk. It was on sale at 40% off (floor model), and had a black steel base and a wood top, the same colour as my cabinets but a few shades darker. It came with a shelf attached to house a desktop computer, and we quickly discovered it could easily unscrew off. It was the perfect width (just shy of 3') and length. Here is a photo of it from their website:

SOLD! It arrived last Monday and I finally got a chance to try it out with the shelf (decided it was too distracting and hid my Pantons) and find some things for a centrepiece. I love it. I am so happy to have something straight to eat off of, and I am no longer embarassed to have people over for a meal.

This blog chronicles my entire kitchen renovation from start to finish. Greentea Design has provided me with their solid wood kitchen cabinets, and I'm taking care of the rest.

If you'd like to be brought up to date, check out the archive in the sidebar for previous posts. I posted recently some before and after photos, and for this final post I'd like to share some photos I took for Greentea, the interview they have added to their website about my renovation, and a video tour of the kitchen.

My kitchen is complete, and I am ecstatic at the result. I can finally say that I have my dream kitchen. It is beyond my expectations, and every time I walk through my front door and see it, I can't help but smile. I am never going to want to sell this house. I can't imagine leaving this kitchen behind. I'd like to take this opportunity to again thank the folks at Greentea Design. They made this dream come true for me, and I am so grateful (and shocked) that they agreed to this partnership. It was alot of fun and hard work (on both our parts) and they were so patient and helpful throughout the whole process. I hope I can get in a trip to Toronto sometime soon so I can finally meet them and see their showroom. So thank you Greentea Design - you guys ROCK and I'm so proud to have a Greentea kitchen.

To start this post off, I wanted to invite you to check out the interview Greentea did with me that is now published on their website. They've divided it into 3 parts - Planning, Demolition and Installation, and the Finished Kitchen. What an honour to have my renovation featured on their main page. Here are some photos they've included in the interview.

I took some photos not too long ago for Greentea that really showcase the cabinetry so I thought I'd share some of them. (For the purpose of getting decent shots of the cabinets, the dining table and chairs were pushed into the living room).

And last but not least, a video tour of my kitchen. I really do not like seeing myself on camera (I can't even bare to watch the whole clip), but I agreed to do this for Greentea. Pay no attention to the cats meowing and interrupting me, then jumping up onto the counter, and subsequently leaving a trail of footprints along the range. (GRRRRR)

Thanks to all those who have followed along in this process. It's been quite an adventure, and I'm glad I had this opportunity to share it. I hope my mistakes and advice help those also venturing into the treacherous but exciting land of kitchen renovations.

This blog chronicles my entire kitchen renovation from start to finish. Greentea Design has provided me with their solid wood kitchen cabinets, and I'm taking care of the rest.

If you'd like to be brought up to date, check out the archive in the sidebar for previous posts. I posted recently about how I've organized and made use of all the wonderful cabinetry, and now for some before and after photos.

I love seeing before and after photos or renovation and decoration projects. It's amazing to see the transformation and this way you really get an idea of the work involved. I haven't done that yet for my kitchen reno, so this post is dedicated to before and after photos.